GE14: Why crowd size don’t really matter

He has suffered multiple chest infections and has been in and out of hospital seeking treatments for something or other.

Kit Siang, on the other hand, slipped into a coma following a recent surgery to remove a cancerous tumour from his kidney.

The two are very old and may not last till the next general election.

Which is why, even Barisan Nasional supporters are likely to throng PKR ceramahs just to see the duo in action.

That explains why crowds won’t serve as accurate indicators to tell you who will win the general election.

THE THIRD FORCE

Did anyone watch the 2016 Democratic National Convention?

If you did, you’d have noticed the oratorical athletics that went into the United States’ (US) most stirring and captivating event of all time. There was Barrack Obama, one of the world’s most renowned talkers who summons memories of the late Ronald Regan, a God in the smooth-talking kingdom. There was also Bill Clinton, another smooth operator whose conversational brilliance delivers a stage presence that sanctifies lies more than it purifies them.

Obama’s speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention

It was the night of the millions – the millions being the numbers that tuned in to watch both Obama and Bill in action. The bumper-to-bumper gridlock of cars choking narrow the road leading to the convention hall said it all – it was a sight that probably nourished Hillary Clinton’s ego and had her believing that she would be the next President of the US.

She lost the election.

Immediately, it dawned upon Democrats that the night of glitz and glamour, so to speak, was a crowd puller only because Americans knew that no single event could possibly assemble two of the world’s most renowned grandmasters in oratory brilliance – Bill Clinton and Obama – on a single stage. More than that, they knew that there would never be another moment in history, where two onetime bitter rivals – both being former US presidents – would unite to prevent someone like Trump from becoming president.

The thousands who flocked the Democratic National Convention in 2016 were not there to listen to Hillary, but the mastery with which Bill and Obama made Satan sound like a monitor lizard. Pundits had it that when Bill spoke, it was a magical ride to a time where he would solicit sexual favours from Monica Lewinsky but tell you it was all “accidental.”

Yes, so mesmerised was the crowd with Bill, they “ooh-ed” and “aah-ed” with every syllable that oozed from his mouth. After he spoke, everything that Hillary said sounded good even if it were spoken in cow. That tells you that once you’re hypnotised, everything that everyone says will sound good, even if it were a rendition of Titanic by Superman Hew or that song Teresa Kok sang at her birthday-cum-jacuzi-bubble-bath bash.

It is perhaps the most fundamental of reasons why you have people flocking to hear Dr Mahathir Mohamad speak.

To many a curious onlooker, it seems surreal watching a man who led the country for 22 years seeking to reinstate himself as Prime Minister. Sure, they know that he lies through his teeth and is bad news for the country. But they also know that the 14th general election (GE14) is just around the corner, that this will probably be the last general election they get to witness his oratory brilliance and the bullshxt that goes along with it.

So you see, even die hard Najib supporters would probably head over to the former premier’s “tell all” ceramahs just to satisfy their curiosity. Like you and me, they get a kick out of seeing Teresa Kok turn into Mother Teresa the minute Mahathir is done talking. It stuns them to know how saintly a person can sound once the old man is done with his bullshxt. Now, can Najib perform such hypnosis during any of his ceramahs?